Under harsh environmental conditions, consumer grade electronic devices typically are unable to withstand extremes of temperature, shock, vibration, humidity, dust, as well as exposure to chemicals or other types of explosive environments. In military as well as aeronautical and industrial applications, compact memory devices have become a necessary tool in collecting and providing information. However, the extreme environmental conditions in which these systems operate can lead to damaged equipment or degraded performance, making standard electrical devices inoperable for such applications.